Musical instrument



.I. WADE.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED nun. :9, 191a.

Patented Dec. 9,1919.

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Wibwssas I r'hm 1. WADE.

' MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19, Hi8

Patented Dec. 9,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

717M863 )5 K 92m a w UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESSIE WADE, OF WEST KENSINGTON, LON-DUN, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALFTO OLIVER PRESCOTT MACFABLANE, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9, 1919.

Application filed March 19, 1918. Serial No. 223,350.

' piano-players and player-pianos of the kind in which a tune sheetpasses over a tracker board and controls pneumatic playing mechanism.

Folding tune sheets for automatic musical instrumentshave been known andthe present invention consists in. improved means for using tune'sheetsof this type in instruments of the kind first referred to.

According to my invention I arrange the I instrument with a pair. ofreceptacles, one

above and the other below the tracker, the folded sheet, when it is tobe used, being in troduced into the upper receptacle and then drawnbetween a pair of guide and feed- *rollers beneath the tracker andthence into thelower receptacle, in which, as it is drawn bythefeed-rollers, it is refolded in zig-zag folds, this being continueduntil the complete piece has been played. Suitable means areprovided forplacing the necessary tension uponthe sheet in order to insure that itruns evenly and maintains eflicient contact with the tracker. For thispurpose I may make use of a weight of suitable shape and 'mass which isplaced, or bears, on the music sheet immediately above and behind thetracker. This tension weight and the feedrollers are so hinged orotherwise arranged that they can be lifted or moved to permit of themusic-sheet being introduced into, and removed from, the appliance andalso to enable the sheet to be shifted either backward or forwardwithout the necessity of stood I will describe it by reference to theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a front view of part of aprovements app ied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 22, Fig. 1. Y

a indicates the case of the instrument and b is the tracker. 0 is thereceptacle which is arranged above and behind the tracker b, and d isthe second receptacle which is 10- piano-player or player-piano havingmy imcated beneath the said tracken These two I receptacles serve, asabove described, to receive the music-sheet 6 respectively before andafter it is played. The said music-sheet is, as illustrated in Fig. 2,made with transverse creases 61 so that it can be folded in a zig-zagmanner and to facilitate the manipulation of the sheet the end sectionsare advantageously made of a stiffer material such as cardboard.

f and g are the guide and feed-rollers which are rotatably mounted in.bearings beneath the tracker b. .The roller 7 is driven from the playermechanism and the musicsheet is gripped between the said roller and theroller 9 with sufficient friction to causeit to be fed from the upperreceptacle 0' into the lower receptacle d. To permit of the introductionand removal of the music-sheet the guide-roller g is made detachable,for which purpose it is provided at its end with pivot pins 9 whichengage in slotted bearing brackets h. In practice the rollers f and gare, as shown, arranged with the line joining their centers at aninclination to the horizontal the said rollers being also displacedlaterally with respect to the tracker,

the object being to insure that the musicsheet is drawn through therollers in such a direction that it automatically folds in the mannerindicated.

i is a roller or weight which is designed to impart thenecessary'tension to the musicsheet a. This roller 2' is rotatablycarried in a cradle 'y' which'is arranged on the top of the tracker b,and the sides j of which are separated by a distance equal to the widthof the music-sheet. The music-sheet, on passing from the upperreceptacle 0 is carried below the roller 2' before it reaches thetracker Z) so thatthe weight of the Said roller operates to give therequisite tension to the music-sheet. The roller is arranged so that itcan easily be removed from the cradle j in order to permit of theintroduction and removal of a music-sheet, and for this purpose anyconvenient device may be' ing screw 1 against which the said cradle iscausedto press by means of the sprin m. applied against its other end.As wil? be obvious, by turning the adjusting screw Z the position of thecradle, and consequently of the music-sheet, can be adjusted relativelyto the tracker b.

The upper receptacle 0 is arranged with a cover a which is hinged at 0''so that it can be raised to permit of the introduction and removal ofthefolded music-sheet. When thesaid cover-is lowered on to the receptacle,as-is illustratedin Figs. 1 and 2, a space or slot left at the front ofthe receptacle through which the music-sheet issues, and this slot may,in practice, be so adjusted that'it'efiects a convenient guidance orcontrol'on the topmost fold of the sheet to insure that it shall bedrawn evenly from the receptacle.

The apparatus operates as follows, that is to'say, when a piece is to beplayed, the music-sheet 6 consisting of the superposed layers, isintroduced into the upper receptacle and the topmost layer is drawn outsufliciently to permit it to be placed into the lower receptacle d. Thetension roller 2' and the guideroller g, are then placed in position andthe instrument is put into motion whereby'the feed-roller f draws thesheet e from the upper receptacle 0 beneath the tension roller i overthe tracker b and between the rollers f, g, the said sheet, as itreaches the lower receptacle d, refolding itself ina zig-zag manner soas again to form a stack of superposed layers, this operation continuinguntil the complete sheet has been played. The rollers g and can then. bedetached and the musicsheet removed from the instrument.

In the construction shown in the drawing the receptacle 0 is shownarranged in a horizontal position. It can, however, be placed verticallyas shown in broken lines at 0, Fig. 2, or at an inclination to thevertical.

' Also the lower receptacle (1 instead of being horizontally placed asillustrated may be arranged at an inclination.

The method of folding and feeding perfaratedlmueiessheets, as abovedescribed,

possesses v. number of advantages in practice. In the first place theinconvenience of having to rewind a sheet of music after it has oncebeen played and before the instrument can be further used is entirelyobviated and the further advantage is obtained that any piece of musiccan be commenced at any desired point; for example, in a musicsheetcontaining a number of songs, an one of such songs can be played withoutthe 76 necessity of first playing the plreceding songs. Again, anyportion of t e music sheet may be returned to the upper receptacle byremoving the rollers i and g flid taking the portion desired from thelower 80 receptacle and placing it in the upper. Furthermore,considerably larger music-sheets, can be made use of than is nowpossible.

Claims: I 1. In. a musical instrument, the combint- 86 tion with atracker and a music sheet codperating with said tracker, of asubstantiiliy horizontal support carrying a removable tensioning meansadapted to press id music sheet toward the support, a receptacle 90arranged adjacent said support ada to house the music sheet and fromwhich the music sheet is fed, a pair of arranged directly beneath thesupport; due of said rollers being removable to permit 06 the musicsheet to be withdrawn without passing between the rollers, and a mareceptacle arranged beneath the t w.- rollers adapted to receive thesheet do" it leaves said rollers.

2. In a musical instrument, the combination with a tracker and a foldingmusic sheet coiiperating with said tracker, of a substantiallyhorizontal support carrying a removable tensioning means adapted to 10!press said music sheet toward the support, and a pair of sheet feedingrollers arm beneath the support, the axis of one of said rollers beingarranged in a higher me than the axis of the other roller to fac 'latefolding of the music sheet, and one of the rollers being removable topermit the shut to be withdrawn without passing between the rollers.

3. In a musical instrument, the comliimtion with a tracker and a musicsheet operating with said tracker, of a cradle through which the musicsheet travels, slid cradle including means for engaging the side edgesof the sheet, and means fflflffecting lateral adjustment of said cradlerelative to said tracker.

4. In an instrument of the kind dolled by claim 3, removable tensioningmeans =1!!!- ried by the cradle and exerting pressure'on the music sheetas it travels through the cradle.

5. In a musical instrument, the combi'h tion with a tracker, of a cradlethrough which the music-sheet travels, saidr dihdle 180 having end wallsfor engaging and guiding feeding said sheet over the tracker, one of 10the side edges of the sheet, lugs carried by said rollers beingremovable to permit said the end Walls of the cradle and projectingsheet to be moved relative to the rollers toward each other, and aroller Weight hav- Without being moved thereby, a cradle, and ing itsperiphery contacting With said lugs a removable tension device locatedin said and resting on the sheet. cradle and adapted to engage the music15 6. In a musical instrument, the combinasheet for providing thenecessary tension tion With a tracker, of a folded music sheet on thesheet. cooperating With said tracker, rollers for JESSIE WADE.

